Anja
Feminine · “grace”
Anja is the German and Scandinavian form of Anya, which is Anna — the Hebrew word for grace, worn smooth by every language in Europe.
How old is the name Anja?
Anja first appears in US birth records in 1962 — 63 years ago. The typical Anja alive today was born around 2005, making them about 20 years old. About 2,700 people named Anja are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Anja most popular?
Anja peaked in 2002, reaching #1683 nationally. Today it ranks #4067, 2,384 places below that high. See the whole 2002 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Hannah to Anja
The story of Anja
Anna is one of the small set of names that every European language took and reshaped — Anne in France, Ana in Spain, Anya in Russia, Anja in Germany and Scandinavia, Annikki in Finland. Anja was very heavily used in Germany and the Nordic countries in the second half of the twentieth century. It reaches American records with families from all of them.
Meaning
grace, favor
From Hebrew Hannah, grace or favor, through Greek and Latin Anna; the Slavic Anya gave German and Scandinavian Anja, in which the j is a y sound.
How the name formed
- Hannah
- Anna
- Anja
Related forms: Anja · Anya · Anna · Anja
Pronouncing Anja
AHN-yah
Two syllables, first stressed; the j is a y sound in German and Scandinavian spelling.
Nicknames for Anja
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1962
- Most girls named
- 2006122 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1683reached in 2002
- Change vs 2024
- −27.1%35 in 2025, from 48
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Anja in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Anja in German — same name
- Anya in Russian — same name
- Anna in English — related form
- Anja in Finnish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Minnesota, California, New York.
Anjas among us
people named Anja are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 45,922 born in 2025 was named Anja
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Jeanelle test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Anja's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jeanelle climbed just as high around 1939, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jeanelle's path sketches the road Anja is walking now.
Anja sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Anja is headed
Anja should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Anja beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Anja in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled meaning shared with one of the most-used names in history.
- Four letters and two syllables, about as easy to write as a name gets.
- Recognized across Germany, Scandinavia and the Slavic world.
- English readers say the j as in jam unless told otherwise.
- Anya is the more common spelling in America and will be written for her.
- It is close to Anna, Ana and Anya, all far more common.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Anja to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Anja? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Anja
Feminine · #4067 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Anjas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,700 people named Anja are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Anja in 2025?
- Anja ranks #4067 among US girl names in 2025, with 35 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Anja?
- About 1 in every 45,922 US girls born in 2025 was named Anja — 35 in all.
- Will my child share the name Anja with classmates?
- Anja will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Anja
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Eli#4067 · Peace#4067 · Medina#4067 · Darlin#4067 · Sparrow#4067 · Liani#4067 · Kaleigha#4067 · Salina#4067
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Anja? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Anja and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle